Cleaner for wheeled hay-rakes.



. CLEANER FOR WHEELER HAY RAKES.

APPLIOATIQK FILED SEPT. 24., 19.02.

MODEL.

UNTTED STATES Patented June 30, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES MAOPHAIL, OF BLUE ISLAND, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO INTERNA- TIONALHARVESTER COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORA- TION OF NEW JERSEY.

CLEANER FOR WHEELED HAY-RAKES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 732,094, dated June 30,1903. Application filed September 24, 1902. Serial No. 124,668. (Nomodel.)

To all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, J AMES MACPHAIL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Blue Island, county of Cook, State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Cleaners for WheeledHay-Rakes;

and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of theinvention,such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention contemplates the provision at opposite ends of therake-head just inside the wheels of an attachment which is believed tobe entirely novel-namely, a cleaner or device for preventing theentanglement with the wheels of the hay or other material whichaccumulates in the rake-teeth approximate to the wheels. So far as I amaware there has been no device heretofore proposed for effecting thisobj ect, and I desire, therefore, the appended claims to have aninterpretation that will be commensurate with the generic character ofthe invention.

In the operation of the wheeled hay-rakes, especially those that areautomatically dumped, some little difficulty occasionally arises indischarging the load from the fact that the hay as it accumulates in theteeth nearest the wheels becomes entangled with the spokes and otherparts of the wheels and gets wound up therein.

The present invention consists'in a cleaner which is attached to theWheel-hub or any other part of the wheel and rotates with the wheel soas to continually and gradually push the accumulating hay radiallyoutward with respect to the wheel and preferably also inwardly towardthe rake-teeth.

As herein illustrated and described, the invention consists in a coil ofspiral spring wire, one end being secured to the hub of the wheel andthe wire being wound spirally in the reverse direction to the wheelsrotation and its outer end being left free. One of these cleaners isattached to each of the wheelhubs, and as the wheel revolves thegradually-increasing diameter of the spirals pushes the hay radiallyoutward from the center of the wheel and prevents the hay from becomingwrapped around the hub or wound in the spokes of the wheels.

The invention is fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings,wherein- Figurel is a perspective of one, end ofa wheeled horse-rakelooking from the rear. Fig. 2 is a sectional view looking outward towardthe wheel, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the portion of the rake shown inFig. 1.

Referring to the views, corresponding letters denote the same parts.

The head of the rake is indicated at a.

1) denotes one of the wheels, and c the rake teeth.

As here shown, the head of the rake is formed of angle-iron; but it maybe constructed in any preferred manner, as the invention is applicableto all rakes however their teeth may be formed.

The cleaner cZ-consists, as here shown, of a spiral spring-wire which iscoiled, as shown, and has its inner end secured to the hub of the wheelat e just inside the spokes and between the end tooth on the rake-headand the Wheel-spokes. The outer end of the wire coil forming the cleaneris free, and as the coils of the wire increase in diameter they arepreferably deflected sidewise toward the raketeeth in order to push theaccumulated hay gradually and continually toward the teeth and laterallyaway from the wheels. I have here shown the cleaner as consisting of asingle continuous wire, wound helically, of coils ofgradually-increasing diameter. I have also shown the cleaner as formedof springwire. Various modifications of this arrangement may, however,be employed without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention,which consists, broadly, in the employment of a cleaning attachment atthe opposite ends of the rake-head inside the wheels for the purpose ofautomatically pressing the accumulating material radially outward fromthe center of the wheel.

The construction being as above described, it is believed the operationwill be fully understood without further detailed description. Thewheels revolve in the direction of the arrow, carrying the cleanersaround with them, and'the efiect of constantly rotating thespirally-wound wire is, as will be readily understood from theillustration, to press the hay which accumulates in the end teeth nearthe wheels gently and continuously downward and outward with respect tothe center of the wheel,and the helical arrangement of the coils, whichis best illustrated in Fig. 3, also efiects a sidewise movement of thehay away from the wheels toward the rake-teeth. The operation of therake is thereby considerably improved, and especially in that class ofrakes where the teeth are elevated by the rotation of the wheels, so asto automatically dump the load.

Although I have herein shown the end of the cleaner-wire attached to thehub, it is to be understood that it may be attached to any other part ofthe wheel, and the sidewise deflection of the coils of the cleaner maybe omitted, if desired. 4

Having thus described the invention, what I claim, and desire to secure,is

1. In a wheeled hay-rake, the combination with the teeth, of revolvingmeans at the end of the rake-head, for pushing the hay inward away fromthe wheels, so as to prevent the hay from being entangled therewith.

2. In a wheeled hay-rake, the combination with the teeth, of revolvingmeans at the end of the rake-head, for pushing the hay radially outwardwith respect to the wheels, so as to prevent its entanglement therewith.

3. In a wheeled hay-rake, the combination with the teeth, of a cleanerat the end of the rake-head, said cleaner consisting of a spiralspring-wire secured at one end to the wheel and wound spirally in asubstantially vertical plane in the reverse direction to the wheelsrotation, whereby as the wheel revolves the spirals of the cleaner pushthe hay radially outward and prevent its entanglement therewith.

4. In a wheeled hay-rake, the combination with the teeth, of a cleanerat the end ofthe rake-head, said cleaner consisting of a spiralspring-wire secured at its inner end to the hub of the wheel and woundhelically in the reverse direction to the wheels rotation so asgradually to approach the teeth with its outer end free, whereby as thewheel revolves the spirals of the cleaner push the hay radially outwardwith respect to the wheels and toward the rake-teeth, so as to preventits entanglement with the wheels.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES MAOPHAIL.

